“How to Work With Me” for Dummies

 

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By Yasmina Khelifi, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA, PMP

A few years ago (when virtual meetings were less common for most people), I often presented myself by phone, explaining how I liked to communicate on a project (I admitted that sometimes, I send too many emails!)—but I didn't get into many more details about myself.

Lately, I’ve begun to work with a lot of new people. Serendipitously, I read a blog that covered the importance of writing a guide that helps convey how you want people to work with you. Thanks to my volunteer activities as a PMI UAE social media contributor, I've developed graphic design skills: I decided to create a one-page display with some information about myself and send it to 10 trusting colleagues and friends as an experiment.

I asked them three questions:

• What do you think about it?
• Does it help you to work with me?
• Would you (still) like to work with me?

I don’t pretend to be an organizational psychologist, but it elicited some good, surprising responses and enthusiastic thoughts that I’d like to share with you (with humility).

1. Why create a visual self-portrait?

Self-introductions are not easy to make when you begin to work with new colleagues. We often mention diplomas, certifications, years of experience and our former activities. But how can we use that information to forge a successful path for collaboration on a project?

Visuals transcend hierarchical and geographic boundaries and are easily adaptable to different communication channels; some people like text, others visuals and colors. I came up with a concise graphic about myself.

“It is too Yasmina-centric,” one colleague told me. “I’d like to have more advice to work with you.” Added another: “I can understand you beyond just being a colleague.”

It’s not about being egoistic or narcissistic; it’s about carving out some time to reflect about yourself beyond tasks, deadlines and emails to elevate your self-awareness. You can keep your feet on the ground by triggering conversations around the visual. Of course, you must have good self-awareness of yourself in the workplace. If I had done this kind of exercise at the beginning of my career, I would have been less precise and honest. Thanks to leadership practice and training, I’ve learnt a lot about myself.

With the ongoing pandemic, remote and global work is expanding, this provides a good opportunity to rethink how we introduce ourselves in a more empathetic way to ease future collaboration and avoid some misunderstandings. Beyond a project role, you can share personal things that are important to you and forge deeper bonds with your colleagues.

2. When to use it

One colleague told me he would use it as an icebreaker when a new project member comes on board, but you can use it at any time during the project. You’ll have to update it, because you’ll change with work and life experiences. Every human interaction we have helps us know ourselves better, so you’ll discover more about yourself by reviewing it regularly.

By sending it to some colleagues, I got insightful feedback. (One colleague I worked with for a long time discovered that I preferred working in the morning.)

3. How to use it

As an individual…

"When you share negative things about yourself, it seems like you have accepted them and you expect people to work around them," shared another close friend (who does not work in project management).

It takes courage to write down some of these things, but talking about my “bad” traits (like tending to interrupt people) doesn’t excuse me from them; I shall improve that through self-management and learning to be more patient. But it can avoid unintentional misunderstanding.

It is up to you to keep it as a personal compass for your own awareness, or to share it publicly.

As a team…

You must talk to the team about the benefits of this kind of visual, along with the categories you can choose to display (without putting too many constraints on it), how often the teams will review them, customize them, etc.

It is crucial to highlight that this is not a static view that pigeonholes you into some boxes. This visual has meaning only with added oral explanations and in specific contexts (like how to foster better teamwork and collaboration).

What I haven’t displayed is the level of adjustments: Being more productive in the morning doesn't mean I'm sleeping in the afternoon. Lile many of you, I'm flexible and adapt to the circumstances—but it is still important that I know when I'm more productive to organize the workload accordingly if I can.

Working as a project manager in a multicultural environment, I know that misunderstandings can happen quickly, suddenly and for minor things. If you make the effort to clarify things from the outset, you’ll be rewarded! By being authentic and transparent, you’ll infuse an honest mindset into the team.

How do you get to get to know each other in your project team? Share your comments below.